A National Parks Tour with Fantastic Food and Spectacular Scenery

A multi-generational road trip to see some of America's most stunning national parks included plenty of delicious eats.

Many readers of The Smoke Sheet may be unaware of the fact that in addition to barbecue, I am also incredibly passionate about America’s national parks. I have spent my career working to protect and promote America’s most important landscapes and resources as an employee of the National Park Service.

I visited several national parks in Utah and Colorado with my father and 10-year-old son Henry. (Photo by Ryan Cooper)

That’s why, during spring break this year, my Dad and I took my fourth-grade son Henry on an epic multi-generational road trip to see the spectacular national parks in Colorado and Utah. As part of the Every Kid Outdoors program, all fourth graders are eligible to receive a free pass to gain entry to the national parks and other public lands to experience America’s wildlife, resources, and history.

During our trip, we visited five spectacular national parks, saw some amazing sights, and learned a lot. We also had the opportunity to eat a lot of delicious food along the way.

The steak at the Metate Room in Mesa Verde’s Farview Lodge was fantastic. (Photo by Ryan Cooper)

The first stop on our trip was at Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado, which is home to towering cliffs and mesas, thousands of species of plants and animals, and the spectacular cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo people. We stayed at the Farview Lodge inside the remote park and dined at the lodge’s Metate Room Restaurant, where we were treated to amazing views of the park during sunset. While the pork ribs my Dad ordered were a little underwhelming, the fantastic New York Strip and vegetables that I had were delicious and perfectly cooked.